Topic: Bravely Default II (Nintendo Switch)

@BruceCM The Red mage definitely has some awesome skills. Especially the one where you can cast the spell two times in a row without needing to Brave.

The 2nd speciality, you mean, @VoidofLight .... ? Yeah, that's why I'm just saying there's a few other very useful ones for some jobs, rather than spoiling anything There's the ability where magic can also do debuffs, too! There are some other very useful abilities from various jobs & those are the ones you set separately, so it doesn't matter what job & sub-job for them

@BruceCM Exactly. In general, I really like playing around with the job system. I don't think I'll go as far as to max out every job, especially now that I have a party that I really like using, but even the jobs that aren't as useful are worth leveling up, mainly due to the passives you can gain from them.

Oh, yeah, I never even started learning some jobs, @VoidofLight .... As I mostly kept 2 characters in melee jobs & the others for mostly magical ones, that covered a good variety, though Once someone has mastered a job, they might as well start learning something else! Can always swap back for a boss fight

@BruceCM That's true. I mostly just try and fit jobs that I prefer them to have, mostly because it seems like a hassle to try and level up every job on every character, especially when they change weight stats, health, and other things.

Yeah, that's why I split them between my team, @VoidofLight .... For the general exploring, just have whatever job you like best for them as sub! It's a way to end up with a good variety available for use in those difficult boss fights, without having to go off & spend a long time grinding up jobs for them I never used beastmaster, for instance & that's one that's recommended for lots but I had enough choices to be able to get through, obviously

Spiritmaster is a great sub in case anyone is wondering or having issues with bosses, especially once mastered. Gets even better once bravebearer is mastered

last night i got back into Bravely Default II. Im at the snow area Heimdall area and just got the Dragoon job from that guardian gal. Decent job but i switched Adelle back to Vanguard and Monk. Gloria i currently have her job grinding for Salve maker get the last abilities. Everyone in the game in my save file theyre at level 54 and doing pretty good against the snow field enemies. Bumped into a few of the wiki wiki creatures which they helped out raising the job leveling up from time to time.

Im having more fun with Bravely Default II than with Bravely Second.

one thing I couldnt stand from Bravely Default 1 and Second is that you had to add random people online to get super attack powers especially in the first game.

ive noticed that Adelle as Vanguard/Monk does alot of good damage than Seth which doesnt bother me but Seth is supposed to be you the main character in a way.

Considering picking up my first game in the Bravely series.

I really enjoyed Octopath Traveler so I'm looking for a game that will scratch a similar itch. What I most liked about Octopath were the break/boost system, the class system, and the art/music direction. I've given the demos for Bravely Default I and II a go and, while they seem interesting, I generally find it difficult to get fully invested if I'm not in possession of the full game.

I'm just wondering - based on the games themselves, and what I'm looking for out of the series - would you recommend that I pick up Bravely Default I or II? Money is no issue in my decision - I'm moreso concerned about which game is more worthy of my time and likely to give me the more fulfilling experience as a newcomer in 2021.

Many thanks in advance for any suggestions!

@timleon i think its worth your time if you enjoy turn based rpgs

@timleon I heard the first game’s story is a bit better, but the twist is extremely annoying. I also heard that the combat of the second game is better than the first two.

@komodo182 @VoidofLight good to hear! I think I'd favour better combat as long as both stories are somewhat decent. Perhaps I should retry the demos to compare the combat a bit...

@timleon In terms of difficulty Bravely Default 1's easy mode is more easy than Bravely Default 2 "casual" mode. As for story (if I recall), it does have more story than BD2 although there is a repetition in the second half of the story. It is rich in lore, but to know more about the asterisk characters you need to defeat then multiple times in the second half of the story. Their stories are good and you will fight them sometimes with unexpected asterisk characters, but it can get tiring unless you use the right tactics to defeat them quickly, which is possible.

However the grinding is more approachable than BD2 and there are different enemies that gives decent amount of job points and money. I didn't have a problem with the grinding in BD2 and there are ways to ease the grinding. The last 2 jobs in Bravely Default 1 are really good and can help against the last bosses, which is where the difficulty goes up if you don't grind enough. But seeing that you played Octopath without having any issues with grinding, you probably will be good to play BD.

Bravely Default 2 is in some ways superior to the first one (like having more surprising plot twists and revelations), but also more grindy, perhaps slightly more than Octopath Traveler. Although if you have consecutive battles against the shiny enemies that appear in certain areas that could change. The main difference between BD and BD2 are the encounters. In the first one they are random, but the frequency can be changed very flexibly. You can even change the encounter rate to cero (-100% in the game). In BD2 you can see the enemies and depending on your level, they may go after you or run away. Another thing is that there are enemies (and bosses) that shine red, which means they are ahead of you in levels. But if you beat them, they will give you bonus exp and bonus job points. There's a mini game you can unlock in the first quarter of the story if you check the right sidequests. I find it entertaining but due to wanting to see more of story, I haven't played it again. I guess Hopefully this can help you decide which you'll like more. Personally, I'll recommend the first game since the Bravely games has way more jobs than Octopath Traveler, so that you'll get accustomed to the series then later you try BD2, which is a bit more difficult.

what I really like about Bravely Default II is that it doesnt have the idiotic random passerby online thing where it adds a person to get some crazy high attack power that you can use in battle against a boss like only once or however that goes.

I couldnt stand that for Bravely Default 1 and in Bravely Second.

@urrutiap So the specials were moreso based on friends back in the originals? I thought it was just hiring help with fights or something.

@Diddy64 Thanks for the comparison. I did hear that the first game gets a bit repetitive later on so that made me reluctant to start it.

Do you really need to grind to finish these games? I'm not a big fan of grinding but I don't really remember having to grind in Octopath Traveler at all. Although I don't think grinding would be too bad if the battle system adds enough variety to the mix.

@timleon I had to grind a good bit in II, at least at the start. I had like 20 hours in Chapter 1 alone just due to that. Later however, the grinding gets a bit easier since you unlock more jobs and things like monster food.

Also, another thing with II, is that there's a lot to the story that's sort of optional. Like extra context and quests that build up the characters you encounter through the story itself.

@VoidofLight No.

Its whoever you added such as random people strangers. Like when you were playing Pokemon X/Y for that Safari Zone where you had to add people just to get Safari Zone pokemon to show up

@urrutiap ah.